Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[norustplease]

No, not one of your Farina jobs, but a chunky Cambridge Mk 1 of 1957
vintage.
I acquired it from its previous owner in late September of this year (2022). It started life as an all grey car, and when featured in Practical Classics in 2011, it had been restored and had a mileage of around the 60k mark. At what point it became two tone I am not sure. It was certainly prior to a photo shoot in early 2017, recorded in the Cambridge owners club gallery, and it went on sale again later that year, probably to the person from whom I bought it, here in Chorley.

The colour scheme isn't right, of course, it should have a boot and roof to match the sides and a lightning trim dividing the colours behind the headlights. The car had been repainted originally in that area, as if it were a Westminster, with a colour divide under the headlights, which I corrected. I now have the correct trims, and when weather permits, will probably adjust the paintwork locally once more. It still won't be right, but I like it.

Anyway, the old restoration is holding up well, and I have extensive records in the form of MOT's going back into the 1980's plus a few invoices, that suggest that the current mileage of around 65k is probably correct, the car in later life having travelled very few miles every year. There is the old green logbook as well, and overall, it seems to have spent most of its life in the North East and Yorkshire.

To date, apart from conditioning the leather upholstery, doing the small amount of paintwork and a service, I have done relatively little to it. The only 'major' jobs have been getting the very bubbly back bumper re-chromed, and changing the oil filter for a spin on adapter, which proved to be a bit of a pain due to access issues, and I am not certain, even now, that the banjo joint to the adapter is properly leak free. That apart I enjoy the comfortable drive, especially the automatic overdrive and freewheel that the car is fitted with.
The period Ecko radio works, but there is very little to listen to on the wavelengths that it can receive. The car also has a sliding steel sun roof, but as yet I have not opened it. The underside seems good, with a couple of recent small pieces of welding in the floor, done to a good neat standard. Tyres are good tread wise, but could probably due with new in the Spring, due to their age.
My only action to the underside so far has been to pull some loose underseal off the front cross member and to spray underbody wax here and there, further progress being inhibited by some arctic weather.
We are now waiting for some sun and some fifties motoring.
Photos were taken in the Autumn before the big freeze.






_________________
1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[Penman]

That is like the one I had with the overdrive.
What is the script underneath "Cambridge" on the boot lid.
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[Rick]

That's really nice, the interior looks very well preserved and good to see the original registration still on it.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
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[peter scott]

Looks in really good shape inside and out.
My Rapier that was my every day transport 50 years ago had the same radio and I remember it worked well and the presets were good.


Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Ray White]

I really like the two tone paint job. I certainly wouldn't change it now. I also like the blue interior. A lovely car. I also wondered what the script on the bootlid says.

I wish I had taken some photos of my low milage A55. As I may have recalled before, it had belonged to a friend of my Dad so we knew it well. It had a floor change but no free wheel or overdrive which it would have benefitted from.

My Brother took it on when I got my first Company car and, sadly, it did not fare too well from then on.

[norustplease]

Hi all. The script on the boot says Overdrive. I haven't had chance to drive it very far as yet, mainly due to the weather, but it is a very pleasant and comfortable drive, although I will need to be careful with the freewheel on some of our Pennine roads.
_________________
1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[Ray White]

WEll, I think it's great.! The one thing to watch out for is water leaking past the rear window seal. If it happens it can make a mess of the headlining. On my car, synchromesh was always weak on second gear...but otherwise it was a very easy car to live with. Solid as a rock. Lovely.

Ray.

[Miken]

Very nice.
I really like the 2 tone paint job.

[Rick]

One area where these cars tend to rot, specific to them, is the tops of the rear wings, forward ends, I think there's a ledge underneath that tends to fill up with mud, gets damp, and gradually disintegrates. It'd be worth scraping out any mud build-up under there, if you haven't already.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
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[Penman]

Hi

[Ray White]

[Penman]

The Cambridge Wiki page shows a 2 tone version which I think is the original set-up.
Mine was a single colour Grey and that had a red interior. but I think back then it was possible to mix and match exterior and interior colours.
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[consul 57]

nice car, 2 tone suits it, can't beat 50's cars IMHO!

[norustplease]

[norustplease]